PoE2 Dawn of the Hunt Review: Worth Coming Back?
Time: 2025-04-08 by mmojugg Game: Path of Exile 2 Guide
Path of Exile 2's first major patch, Dawn of the Hunt (0.2.0), dropped a few days ago, and the community is up in arms - not always for the right reasons. Social media, Reddit, and streams are ablaze with criticism, and after playing through the campaign twice (my smith feels actually great), I get it. This patch is a mixed bag - some brilliant additions drowned out by frustrating missteps. If you enjoy these insights and want more PoE 2 breakdowns, bookmark our site and visit our shop - we've got plenty to fuel your journey into exile!
Let's unpack the good, the bad and what Grinding Gear Games (GGG) are doing about it, based on my experience and their latest response. Spoiler: it's Early Access chaos, but there's still hope.
The bad: Combat Slogs and Performance Hiccups
The big headline? Combat feels off. Patch 0.2.0 unleashed a blanket nerf across skills and mechanics, levelling the playing field by pulling everyone down. Fine in theory - except the monsters didn't get the memo. Act 1 is manageable, but by Act 2 white mobs are taking hits like mini-bosses. My witch had to double-tap rotations and chug potions just to clear a pack, only to be swarmed by their Usain Bolt-level speed and two-shot potential. This isn't "Dark Souls hard" - it's boring. No intricate mechanics, just bloated HP pools to suck the fun out of it.
Gear drops didn't help. I barely saw any yellows, and with gold scarce, respeccing or crafting to counteract the drudgery was a pipe dream. The toolkit feels gutted - our damage can't keep up and it's not rewarding. Then there's performance: before the patch, I had no problems. Now? Crashes in cities on launch day, menu freezes the next, and daily disconnects mid-boss or map - resetting progress every time. It's a rough ride, and I don't blame anyone for leaving for smoother pastures.
The good: New Toys Shine Through
Amid the gloom, there's gold. Ghosts - new minions you raise from defeated enemies - are a blast. Catch a venom-spewing snake and it's your chaos-spewing buddy. I had a field day hunting unique monsters to test their abilities, and it's a system with legs. Huntress' Tame Beast gem mirrors this—capturing pets adds flavor and utility. Both feel like steps towards a richer PoE 2, even if they're rough around the edges.
Rogue Exiles are another win. These player-like NPCs bring tense, PvP-esque combat, dodging and weaving with real builds. Kill one and they drop their full set of equipment - rings, chest, socketed runes, the works. It's exciting and rewarding, a bright spot in the patch. The Huntress herself? After buffing, she's solid. I'm leaning towards ranged with Lightning Spear, and it's snappy fun - though the parry mechanic (more on that later) needs work. Wisps? Meh - stronger monsters, lacklustre loot. They're fine, but forgettable next to Exiles.
GGG's response: Fixes in Flight
GGG's not deaf to the uproar. Their latest post (7 or 8 April 2025) outlines what's been done and what's to come. Here's the rundown:
Slayer tweaks: Parry is clunky - fail and you're stunned or one-shot. They're adding Cull the Weak, a spear skill that automatically grants Frenzy Charges on low HP foes, bypassing parry early in the game. There is also a 25% DPS buff to Lightning Spear for faster throws. I'd prefer to see parry forgiveness (e.g. immunity frames), but it's a start.
Minions: 0.1.1's minion dominance was nerfed heavily. They've since been patched with health and damage buffs - untested by me, but promising.
Monster Health: Campaign HP was reduced by 25% after Act 1, and rare mob bonuses were reduced by 60% to match 0.1 levels. Better, but still clunky - another 25% reduction wouldn't hurt.
Area size: Players hate sprawling maps (Act 3 is a nightmare - 20-40 minutes if you're lost). GGG blame monster life and content density, not size, which feels tone-deaf. They're adding checkpoints, but shrinking maps should be on the table.
Crashes: City crashes are fixed, but server-side disconnects (6x higher) persist. Fixes are days away - fingers crossed.
QoL: Atlas bookmarks, hiding affinities for socketables/tablets and rebindable specters/beasts are coming. Big wins for usability.
They respond quickly - patches within days of launch show commitment. But the card size dodge? A miss. Act 3's bloated layouts aren't just a life issue - they're a pacing killer.
The future: Early Access Growing Pains
Here's the deal: Dawn of the Hunt has stumbled. Combat is slower, performance is shaky, and the nerf hammer hits too hard. But it's Early Access - unfinished, mid-development, and opt-in. We're beta testers, not final judges. Criticism is vital - GGG needs to hear what's broken - but to write off PoE 2 because of one rocky patch is premature. I'm still hooked, tweaking builds and chasing ghosts, because the core is still gold.
GGG has a year to polish this gem. Daily patches suggest they're listening, and with half the campaign, classes and endgame still MIA, there's room to grow. Give it until 1.0 - if it's still a slog, fair enough. For now, I have faith they'll bounce back.
Thanks for Reading
Dawn of the Hunt's a rollercoaster—new highs like specters and Exiles, lows like combat pacing and crashes. GGG is on it, but it's a bumpy road. How's your 0.2.0 run going? Love it, hate it, or somewhere in between? Let us know your thoughts below, and stay tuned to MMOJUGG for more PoE 2 adventures. Happy hunting, exiles!
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